U16 Championship Final: Killeavy 3-08 Pearse Og 2-11
Killeavy faced a strong Pearse Og team in the All County U16 final on Sunday evening in the Athletic Grounds.
Killeavy were the team to fly out of the blocks with two very early goals. Big target man Niall Hannaway at full forward scored the first after five minutes,
while Niall Hollywood converted a wonderful quick running move after ten minutes with a sweet drive to the top corner. Killeavy led by 2-0 to 2 points at this stage,
but were very much second fiddle for the rest of the half. Ogs won an ocean of ball in the middle third, and it took a very steady performance from the Killeavy fullback
line in particular, to keep the Ogs from running up a big lead. The Armagh city side still hit some excellent points to go in with a one point lead at the break.
Kealan O'Hare had Killeavy's only point of the half, with a nice effort from 30 yards after 20minutes. Killeavy will have been happy enough, as they really only had about
30% possession.
The team reflect on what will be required for the replay.
Half Time: Killeavy 2-01 Pearse Og 0-08
If Killeavy had jumped off to a great start in the first half, it was Pearse Ogs best player, John Hughes, who dealt the opening blow of the second half.
His superb mobility saw him steal up the field to fire home a goal, and rock Killeavy back on their heels. However, the response came from Ciaran O'Hanlon,
who put in an heroic second half performance in midfield. He soared to win six consecutive clean catches from kickouts to give Killeavy the possession platform
they were starved off in the first period. Caolan Trainor and O'Hanlon both hit points from frees, and another score from Niall Hollywood had Killeavy only a point behind.
However, try as they might, Killeavy just couldnt get back in the lead, and a second half tally of 9 wides meant that it seemed the game would slip away agonisingly.
A poorly conceded goal to the Ogs, looked like a killer blow, and entering an extended period of injury time, Killeavy were five points behind.
The team must be commended on its never say die attitude, and when Jamie Cosgrove was on hand to pounce on a shot that cannoned back off the bar to goal and bring the deficit back to a
reachable two points. A free from Caolan Trainor had the crowd on the edge of their seats, and there were scenes of joy among the large Kileavy crowd on the stroke of full time,
when Michael Boyle cooly split the posts from thirty five yards to force a dramatic replay.
Well done to Killeavy on a great comeback, but this game is now forgotten until the replay, when hopefully both sides will put on another great, sporting, and skillful contest.
Killeavy's team was Cathal Fearon, Calum Mone, Sean McEvoy, Jason Larkin, Donal O'Neill, Stephen McVeigh, Sean Kieran,
Caolan Trainor(0-4, 3F), Ciaran O'Hanlon(0-1 F), Niall King, Michael Boyle(0-1), Kealan O'Hare(0-1), Niall Hollywood(1-1), Niall Hannaway(1-0),
Jamie Cosgrove(1-0).
Subs used: Jason Larkin.
